sauce

[saws]

noun

1. any preparation, usually liquid or semiliquid, eaten as a gravy or as a relish accompanying food.

2. stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food.

   cranberry sauce.

3. something that adds piquance or zest.

4. Informal.,  sauciness; impertinence; impudence.

5. Slang.,  Usually the sauce hard liquor.

   He's on the sauce again.

6. Archaic.,  garden vegetables eaten with meat.

verb (used with object)

sauced, saucing 

1. to dress or prepare with sauce; season.

   meat well sauced.

2. to make a sauce of.

   Tomatoes must be sauced while ripe.

3. to give piquance or zest to.

4. to make agreeable or less harsh.

5. Informal.,  to speak impertinently or saucily to.

sauce

/ sɔːs /

noun

1. any liquid or semiliquid preparation eaten with food to enhance its flavour

2. anything that adds piquancy

3. stewed fruit

4. dialect,  vegetables eaten with meat

5. informal,  impudent language or behaviour

verb

1. to prepare (food) with sauce

2. to add zest to

3. to make agreeable or less severe

4. informal,  to be saucy to

Other Word Forms

• sauceless adjective
• oversauce verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of sauce¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English, from Middle French, from Late Latin salsa, noun use of feminine of Latin salsus “salted,” past participle of sallere “to salt,” derivative of sāl “salt”; salt ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of sauce¹

C14: via Old French from Latin salsus salted, from salīre to sprinkle with salt, from sal salt

Idioms and Phrases

• hit the bottle (sauce)

Example Sentences

Kraft Heinz announced in September that it will split into two companies, one focused on faster-growing sauces and condiments and the other on grocery staples.

Read more on Barron's

But let’s face it: compared to Regina George, Bondi was packing some weak sauce.

Read more on Salon

Case in point: a single slice of American cheese in her stovetop mac keeps the sauce perfectly smooth, and suddenly, mastery feels delightfully achievable.

Read more on Salon

After their emotional therapy session, Linda and her daughter reward themselves with some pizza — though her daughter would prefer just crust and tomato sauce, no cheese.

Read more on Salon

“The secret sauce is people who can talk about their experience and what they are thinking and feeling,” says Chad Patterson, an independent casting director who has worked for shows on HGTV.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• dressing 
• flavoring 
• gravy 
• relish